Lexington weekly intelligencer. (Lexington, Mo.) 1871-1887, 1887-03-26
ADDRESS OF SIR NJ. M0NI6R- Will,
LIAMS,
At the Eiahty-SecOnd Anniversary
of the British and Foreign
Bible society.

have been during more than a quar-
ter of a century the holder of perhap'
the only professorship in Great Britain
which has for its object the conversion
of the natives OF India to Christianity
by disseminating among them tn
Holy Scriptures. The late Coloue
Boden, who was of the honorable E,sr
India companv's service, b~equeathec
the whole OF his property to the Uni.
versity of Oxford for the promotion o
the study of Sanskrit, being OF opin
ion-I give you the very words OF nj
will-"that a more general and critical
knowledge of the Sanskrit language
would be a means OF enabling hi;
countrvmen to proceed with the ccu-
version of the natives of India to the
Christian religion, by disseminating I
knowledge OF the Sacred Scriptures
among them more effectually than al
other means whatsoever" You see
that this good Colonel Boden, Ike
many other military NEIL ana hanp}
to say, in India-men % have ice
the salt of our Indian E~,npirc-was y
soldier and servant OF Christ; and
vaIuing the Bible more than any other
earthly possession, he believed that il
was the duty OF this country, 10 which
God has committed a vast ludia'
Empire as a sacred trUst--it was the
duty of this country TO give back 20
our eastern people that most precious
of all treasures which we ave received
from the east, our only Bible, trans
lated into their W v~ernaculars. He
knew, too, that Samskrit was the sacred
language of the Brahmins, the Iangu-
age which is the key to all the spoken
dialects of India, and the key TO the
religious thoughts, the customs, and
the superstItions OF the natives; and he
knew that a translation into Sanskrlt
was more likely to commend itself to
the learned natives of India than any
other translation.
Well, then, if God has committed to
us this sacred trust, this vast eastern
empire, what account have we to give
of our stewardship? Let this great
soolety-let the report which we have
just heard read, be II reply All hon
or be to this great. this faithful society ;
and all honor be also to the mission
aries of the Baptist society in India,
for it is to them that we owe the first
translation that we possess If the Bible
into Sanskrit. In the life of DR..
Wenger, which has just been publish
ed, Dr.. Underhill, of the Baptist socie-
ty, we find recorded all the details OF
the work of that nobie-hesrted, that
devoted missionary,.in t%ranslatiug the
Bible into Sanskrt. Bnt if it is our
duty, as Gods trustees i'll India, 10 be-
stow upon the natives the Bible trans.
1~&ol ,oto tha;r nur l,pn,,ao ~ -
also u duty to acqnaint ourselves
with their own so-cailed sacred scrip
lures, that we may be in a position tC
contrast the false with the true, and Il
urge the true sacred book of the cas-
on their acceptance. Now, as many
here know, q great deal OF importance
has recently been attached 10 tine So
called sacred books of the east, which
are at present being translated ant
published by the University Of Oxford
where l am a professor: and if yor
look in the Times of last Monday vOt
will see nearly a whole column devot-
ed to an enumeration Of these books o
the east recently printed. [ must say
thatit rebounds very much to the credi.
of the University to which | beions
that it should have undertaken to prinI
and publish these books, held sarced by
the natives of our eastern empire, anC
so enable every one to estimate theu
at their right value. For myself I may
claim that in the discharge of my dutie
for forty-two years l have devoted a!
much time as any man living to tn,
study of these books. And L yentur,
to tell this meeting what | have fount
to be the one key-nOte-the one diapa
son, SO to speak, of all these so-caile,
sacred books, whether it be the We'd,
of the Brahmins, the Puranas of thu
Saivas and Vaishnavas, the Koran o
the Mohammedans, and the Zent
Avesta of the ,'arsees. the Tripitaka +,
the Buddhists, or the King of tlt
Chinese-the n Keynote. the ora
diapason, the n refrain | nave tUuIl
running through them all. is salvation
by works. They all declare tina, sa'y8
ton must be bought with Il price, aat
that the sole price. the sole purcha-
money, must be our own works aar
deservings.
Here, then, we MAKE our grand con.
trast, and draw our broad line of sen
ara,ion. Our own Holy Bible, on
: S"u SdCiCu JUN " III 'tNl. - ti'al
beginning to end a pro '>f aouinsr thr
doctrine Good works ara in' - ca
Joined upon rs i'll our W sacred boo.
of the east far more >irO - ' tgGt !,
any other sacred book OF the eISl; bii
they are only the outcome OF ii grr's
full. heart-thev are only the taant
Offering of The frui : OF our i4iti. he
are never the ran-ou money If IA
true disciples Of Christ. Put off tn
pride Of self-ri9ht. ousnasS,' say on
Holy Bible; Sit is Il filthy garment, ut
terly unit to cover the uakeduess [
your soul at that awful moment who
death brings you face to face with
holy God" "Put on the garment {
selt-righteousness,' says every othc
sacred book of the east. "Cling closel
to it. Fold ii closely to your neart {
hearts. Multiply your prayers, you
penances, your pilgrimages, your cere
monies your external rites of all kinds
for nothing else but your own merton
tous acts, accumulated like capital of
.ufhank, q saw you from eternal rnin.
We can understand, then, the hol
which these So called sacred books
The east continue to exert on the III
NlS0s5 of India; for the pride of sci
righteousness is very dear to the huma
heart. 1t is like a tight-fitting inn
garment, the first to be put on, the Ia
to be put off. Nay, this may also a
count for the fact that in the prese,
day these recently translated sacrt
books of the east are gaining many ~
mirers, " no fall into raptures over Il
moral precepts which here aHd the
glitter in them. like a few stars sparl
ling through the riffs of a cloudy 81
on a pitch dark night. What did Il
leading journal, the Times, say Il
other day III 81 article on the Buddhj
antiquities in the British Museum?
spoke of the teaching Of Bnddha
second only to the teaching OF Chris
Well, then, let us take Bnddhisl
which is thus popularity described
lei to Christianity. Let us for a 10,
ment, with all reverence, place Buid
ism and Christianity in the crucible f
gether. 1t ls often said that Buddht
d%iscourses abound in moral precepl
almost identical with those of Chri
Be it so; but in fairness let us take
portion of Buddha's first Scrmo
which contains the cream f his do
trine. | should like to give it to V.
from the translation which has i,